Images of the French Revolution

An extraordinary collection of prints about the French Revolution, acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 1890s, is now available online as part of a digitisation project by Waddesdon Manor and the University of Warwick.

In the 1890s, the 18th-century prints were bound into albums using red leather boards with gold tooling and include examples of revolutionary currency, army recruitment documents and membership cards for political clubs, as well as different perspectives on the events of the Revolution. Ferdinand took care to ensure that critical views were represented in the album, and a number of the prints are overtly counter-revolutionary. Some were printed for propaganda purposes outside France.

Find out more about the project, and see more prints, at the Waddesdon Manor website

Images: Waddesdon, The Rothschild Collection (The National Trust). Imaging Services Bodleian Library © The National Trust, Waddesdon Manor